The sound of the group’s music faded as Sunset headed down the stairs to the main floor, mentally going over her plan for the new student tour. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of running steps and a voice calling her name urgently. “Sunset! Wait up!”

Pausing, the former unicorn half turned to study Scootaloo, the younger girl panting as she stumbled to a halt beside her. “Everything…okay?” she asked hesitantly, gaze moving from the junior high student to scan the hall for trouble.

“…Yeah…I...just…wanted to talk…to you…” Scootaloo panted, puffing and wheezing after sprinting down the hall.

Sunset bit her lip for a moment, watching her work to draw in enough air, before hesitantly reached out to rub her back like she’d seen Dash do in similar circumstances. It made her feel good when, instead of cringing back, Scootaloo gave her a small, grateful smile.

It took her a minute or two to stop looking like she was about to fall over. “I’m sorry for earlier!” She blurted once she had her breath back.

“...Earlier...?”

Scootaloo nodded vigorously. “I should’ve said something! I know you’re not still a bully...” she looked at her toes, scuffing one sneakered foot against the floor. “I should’ve stood up for you with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.”

Exhaling slowly, Sunset put a hand on the younger girl’s shoulder. “It’s fine. It wasn’t just your friends, and...they weren’t mean about it. People just...aren’t ready to let it go yet. I get it—I was awful to them, for a long time.”

Scootaloo shook her head. “But you weren’t awful to us!” came the defense. “You left us alone, and even made Snips and Snails stop teasing us...and now you’re friends with Applejack and Rarity and Rainbow Dash! I don’t know why they’re so angry and afraid of you and not wanting to give you a chance! It’s...it’s so stupid!”

The redhead was startled by the vehemence of Scootaloo’s response. It took her a moment to collect herself and respond as neutrally as possible. “It means a lot that you want to stand up for me,” she stated carefully, “but your friends are allowed to have their feelings too, and I don’t want to be the reason you get into a fight with them.”

A frown crossed the younger girl’s face. “I don’t want to fight with them,” she admitted, “but lately they’ve just been really grumpy about stuff.”

“Maybe you could talk to them?” Sunset suggested. “Maybe something else is upsetting them.”

“That’s a great idea! And if we talk about what's bothering them, then I can talk to them about how I don’t like them being mean to you! It’s only fair!” Impulsively, she hugged Sunset before darting off down the hall. “Thanks, Sunset! You give great advice! You’re almost as awesome at it as Rainbow Dash!”

She watched Scootaloo go, shoulders slumping. “That’s not what I...” The whole encounter left the older teen with mixed emotions, and she resumed her trek—with one detour: a stop by the office.

“Vice-Principal Luna?” Sunset poked her head into the woman’s office.

“Miss Shimmer,” the dark haired woman greeted her, a hint of warmth under her professional tone. “Is everything alright? You have not changed your mind about being one of our ‘New Student Liaisons,’ have you?”

She shook her head, dimly aware she was shifting anxiously from foot to foot. "No, no...I just wasn't quite sure... Do I show them round the different places, or take them to meet everyone?" The former unicorn took some deep breaths to calm her agitation, nostrils flaring as she did. "I've only ever done something like this once, back in Equestria, and...” Her eyes suddenly found her feet a fascinating subject to study. “...and I really messed that up badly with it. I...don’t want that to happen again, especially not since you and Principal Celestia are trusting me to be able to do this.”

“This is not some form of test, Miss Shimmer; it is an opportunity. My sister believes—and I agree—that this particular task is something you are well suited for, as you are familiar with how daunting a strange and unfamiliar school can be, and that you will be receptive to their worries, questions and concerns while maintaining a welcoming attitude. More than that, I firmly believe that you will find yourself having fewer difficulties socially interacting with these three new students, as there is a lack of history between you—they know nothing of your reputation among the other students, nor do they have any knowledge of your previous unpleasant deeds, so you will be able to meet them on equal footing.” Luna smiled slightly at her—for the reserved woman, it might as well have been a beaming grin. “Perhaps you will find yourself in the company of those who would like to be your friends.”

The words helped lessen the tight feeling in her chest, and Sunset found herself nodding at the vice principal. “That...would be nice,” she confessed softly. “So I just...show them around? Point out the important places and answer their questions?”

“Yes, Miss Shimmer. You may also feel free to dispense whatever knowledge you have about after school activities, our teams, and any other extra-curriculars that CHS promotes. In my experience, students often find those more interesting than ‘the location of the chemistry lab.’” Luna’s small smile became a slight smirk.

The redhead found herself unable to suppress a chuckle. “You’re probably right, Vice-Principal. I’ll try and touch on those, especially with the showcase coming up!” Her eyes glanced at the clock and she realized how much time had passed since Luna had called for her. “Ponyfeathers! I need to go meet them before they think I’ve bailed!” Luna made a shooing motion with her hand, dismissing her. She jogged for the door, waving a quick farewell to Luna as well as the secretary.

Sunset put on a bright, cheery smile as she stepped up near the brand new front doors of the school, where three teenage girls she didn’t recognize stood. “Hi! Are you the girls I’m supposed to show around?”

One of them stepped forward first, the other two flanking behind her like a pair of bodyguards…or underlings. The lead girl’s frizzy orange hair made her seem far more imposing than she really was, and she walked with a strut that swung her hips in a way that made Sunset blink. “We are,” she purred, voice sultry and dripping with promise.

A weird sensation crawled up her spine, every part of her soul screaming at her, telling her something was terribly wrong. The girls themselves weren’t that odd, though the former unicorn had opinions about their clothing, but for whatever reason she wanted to run away from them and chase them out of her school with violence in equal measure. Instead, she turned to make a sweeping gesture to encompass the rotunda. “Canterlot High is a great school. You’re really going to love it.” Positive attitude, Shimmer, she told herself. Keep a positive attitude.

—Positive attitude only goes so far. You know that when you feel like that, its for a reason. You shouldn’t ignore your gut.— Stupid Little Voice sounded particularly testy today.

Stupid Little Voice also would do well to remember that sometimes her gut told her to eat an entire mushroom pizza in one sitting and that it made her miserable every time. Listening to one’s gastrointestinal tract wasn’t always an act of wisdom.

—Fine. Don’t believe it. You’ll regret it though…—

She started walking towards the halls, leading the trio along and ignoring the voice. The frizzy haired one commented, “Oh, yes, we really sense there's something... magical about this place.”

Okay…maybe that was a little creepy, the way she said it, almost like she knew more than she should…but that was probably just Sunset being paranoid. The former unicorn shook herself and picked a hall, pointing out the different key locations in the school, noting the office, the various classrooms, the gym, even the lunchroom. The entire time, the hair on the back of her neck was standing on edge, and the air held that strange vibe that was starting to make her very teeth itch. It was a completely new feeling, like nothing she had ever encountered before, and it was being caused by the students keeping pace with her. Her core bubbled and seethed, and her bones began to ache, making it difficult to concentrate on her words.

“That’s the science lab. Computer lab is in there.” Her eyes spotted one of the posters and she jogged over to it. “Oh! We’re having a big musical showcase this weekend!” Sunset put as much excitement and pep into her voice as she could. “The whole school is pretty much rallying around it!”

The trio of girls exchanged sly glances, before the leader gave a smile Sunset could only think of as ‘oily.’ “A…musical showcase?” she inquired.

“I’m sure since you’re new, Principal Celestia would let you sign up if you’re interested…” Her smile felt more and more strained with every word, but she soldiered onward.

For the first time, one of the other girls spoke. “We have been known to sing from time to time,” she deadpanned, inspecting her fingernails as if life itself bored her.

The one with the single ponytail grinned guilelessly. “Hello? We sing, like, all the time!” she told the sarcastic girl, before looking at Sunset. “It’s how we get people to do what we want!”

Sunset’s smile faltered as the frizzy haired leader let out a frustrated growl, rounding irritably on her companion, making a motion with one hand across her throat. The unease in her grew, and she was beginning to think she shouldn’t have dismissed Stupid Little Voice so easily.

“What? What did I say?” Ponytail looked more than a little confused by the angry looks from the other two.

Frizzy hair corrected her with a scowl. “What you meant to say was that being in a musical showcase sounds like a great way to meet other students.” This didn’t make Sunset feel better—she recognized that tone at once…after all, it used to come out of her mouth any time she talked to Snips and Snails. She stayed silent, observing with furrowed brows and one hand on her hip, watching the interchange intently.

“Oooho…yeeeeah.” Ponytail stuttered. “Th-What she said I meant to say…that’s what I meant. To say.”

Pigtails sneered. “And what you would have said if you weren’t the worst.”

That triggered a childish retort. “You are!”

The leader exhaled, like a tired parent dealing with children, and stepped to block Sunset’s view of her two followers. “You’ll have to excuse them,” she laughed, before her tone dropped into a sarcastic one. “They’re idiots.”

Awkward silence reigned, and the redhead looked around for some way to break the tension in the air. She noticed the pretty, large sized red gems all three sported on matching necklaces, something about them niggling at her. “Those are pretty,” she commented, moving her hand closer to point at the gem at the orange haired one’s throat. “Where did you—”

As her hand got close, an arm snapped out and caught her wrist in a vice grip, the other teen leaning away from her and looking momentarily furious. Rage surged in Sunset’s own chest, and it took all her restraint not to turn the hold on her wrist into a case of the new student kissing the nearest locker with her tonsils—Celestia’s warning about not resorting to physical violence rang in her ears and proved a good motivator to control that impulse. With a sharp tug she jerked her hand back, rubbing her wrist; the bones in her arm burned with a throbbing pain.

Nervous, forced, and fake sounding laughter issued from Frizzy-Hair. “Sorry!” she apologized with all the sincerity of a scorpion. “These pendants mean an awful lot to us. We’d hate for anything to happen to them.” Then, without another word, she strutted off down the hallway, her flunkies falling into step behind her.

Sunset watched them go, choking down a growl that tried to escape her throat. The further away they got, the better she started to feel, though the itchy, uneasy feeling remained, even as she headed for the lunchroom. Something about the whole thing had destroyed any appetite she had and all she wanted to do in that moment—besides curl up with her girlfriend—was to be around her friends. She pulled out her phone on the way, sending a quick text to Twilight; Sparky probably wouldn’t answer until later, but the promise of that reassurance was enough to soothe her nerves and chase away the sensation of hot tar in her gut.

A few minutes later found her sliding into her chair beside Applejack, frowning and still no closer to understanding either her weird reaction or the trio’s odd behavior. She glanced over as the farmer spoke.

“So, how was the tour?”

She leaned her chin on her hand, trying to articulate how she felt. “…I…don’t know…I mean…” She twisted towards Applejack and the others, hands gesticulating as words failed her. “…these girls…they were…” She paused, seeking to collect herself to try again. “There was something…off…about them.” Perhaps just sticking to that might be better. She could analyze her knee-jerk reaction on her own time.

Pinkie leaned forward. “Like…off like this?!” She tugged her hair into a semblance of a fake beard and mustache. “Or…off like this?” The party planner dropped her face to her plate, coming back with carrots sticking out of her mouth like imitation fangs and lettuce leaves stuck to her eyebrows. “Or, oh, oh! Like—”

Rainbow mercifully interrupted before Sunset’s already frazzled brain had a complete meltdown, something for which she was thankful. “Maybe we should just let her tell us?”

Sunset made a sound of frustration, leaning forward to prop her elbows on the table. “That’s just it! I can’t put my finger on it! They just acted sort of…strange…around me.” The redhead gripped her temples in frustration, before a thought occurred to her, and she sank lower in her seat, folding her arms on the table in preparation to sink her head into them. “Maybe someone already talked to them. Told them about what I did.” She dropped her head onto her arms in despair. “So much for making a good first impression.” Tears burned at the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let anyone see it, reining in her emotions forcefully.

She vaguely heard Fluttershy offer a soft voiced opinion, but she was too buried in momentary misery to focus on it.

—Someone telling them about your history doesn’t explain your reactions, you know.—

That…was a good point, actually. If it had been just someone getting to them and spilling the beans first, why did she feel like she was walking into a Timberwolf’s den wearing a dress made of bacon? Why did she want to get randomly and suddenly violent to complete strangers? It didn’t add up. She started to raise her head, to comment, when she felt it.

Magic.

But not the warm, pleasant magic the girls manifested, and not the familiar flavor of home. This magic was…nauseating. Dark and sinuous, it was building near the lunchroom doors, seeping under the crack and oozing across the floor. Sunset went rigid, sitting up as the doors were opened with far more force than necessary, the resonating harmony of three voices drifting in over the chatter of all the students. The three new girls entered, hips swaying sensuously, every movement of their bodies meant to be enticing and appealing. The magic was emanating from them, and Sunset found herself frozen as she realized in an instant that there had been a very good reason for her reaction.

Her bones were already burning again, and the molten tar boiled, threatening to make its way up her throat this time. The twisted energies scrabbled painfully at her soul’s still tattered edges, something that made her writhe inside—she hadn’t felt this kind of pain since her transformation at the fall formal, and for the briefest of moments, she would swear she felt the talons lurking just under her fingertips, threatening to burst free. The whole experience left her mute, unable to voice anything.

The rest of the girls had turned towards the spectacle that was beginning, ranging in expression from surprised (Rarity) to puzzled (Applejack) to thoroughly unimpressed (Fluttershy, of all people.) Slowly the chatter in the room died down as all of the students became aware of the haunting singing in their midst. The other students seemed confused but taken by the voices, and even Sunset had to admit they were pretty good vocalists…or she would have if the magic in those voices didn’t make them feel like a thousand white hot needles digging into her nerve endings and her eardrums. She couldn’t even really hear the words to their song…but she could parse…something amidst the magic…

Obey…

Fight…

Mistrust…

Worship…

Hunger…

Want…

Hate…

The dark, eerie whispers were magic meant for the mind, she realized, as the song started riling up the students, the low background murmur of mostly indifference and quiet hostility (usually directed at her) surged to life and grew into a frenzy of potential violence and raw, antagonistic anger and hate. Students were screaming at each other, stamping their feet and chanting with the singers, demanding some sort of battle, enthralled by whatever enchantment these sorceresses were wielding. The emotion in the room was potent, almost tangible…

—Look again, horn-head.—

Her eyes narrowed and she let her gaze rove the room, opening her magical senses as much as she dared, despite the agony that made the edges of sight go dark and spotty…and strangely, she could see it; an eerie fog, seeping off every other student in the room besides herself and the girls, energy tainted by emotions crawling along the dark magic tendrils and being…absorbed? Devoured? Drawn in, perhaps? By the three singing females, even as the song came to a close.

The song ending did nothing to lower the noise volume, with students yelling and arguing, pointing fingers and bragging about their superior skills to each other. Pinkie had been leaning across the table to watch, and she spoke up, “Ooooooooh! They’re that kind of ‘off!’”

Sunset drew in a ragged breath, the agony easing as the trio of enchantresses sauntered out of the lunchroom. She felt like she’d just run a marathon through a swamp—her skin left with a hot, dirty, sticky sensation all over—and all she really wanted to do in that moment was collapse face first into her mattress under a fan. That would have to wait though. This was serious, and a problem. She hauled herself up, trying to hide the sway in her first steps. “We have to go talk to the Principals.”

“Darling, are you alright? You look a little…ill.”

“I…that didn’t feel very nice. I could…sense what they were doing, and it…” She grimaced. “My soul feels violated.” Applejack and Rainbow steadied her as they pushed through the screaming matches to the door. “….the magic in there was the kind that manipulates minds…Even in Equestria, that’s extremely rare, very powerful, and probably the most difficult field of magic to study. Even I never got that far—at least…not until I was powered up by the Crown.” She flinched. “I’m actually wondering if that’s why I’m having such a negative reaction…”

“What ever do you mean, darling?” Rarity frowned in concern.

The former unicorn hung her head. “I was consumed by dark magic at the formal. My own inner corruption tainted the energy from the Element of Magic, and that's why I turned into a demon. The Elements cleansed that with the whole…rainbow…friendship…laser…but the fact remains that I’ve been scarred by dark magic. There is..precedence for ponies having sensitivities to dark magic after high levels of exposure.”

Rainbow giggle-snorted. “I’m guessing ‘turning into a giant fiery demon’ counts?”

She couldn't really get upset over it this time—she brought it up. “…Pretty much as high on the dark magic food chain as it gets. Demons are not something anyone messes with lightly. Even Princess Celestia was cautious about them.” She shook off the supporting arms as they headed for the office, letting Rainbow jog on ahead a ways. “Those three are definitely in possession of some form of dark magic. How else do you explain what happened back there?”

The farmer still walking next to her gave her an encouraging nudge. “Don’ worry, y’all. We’ll let Principal Celestia know all about this an’ those girls’ll be kicked ta the curb in no time!” She made a gesture with one hand, eyes rolling. “Last thing she needs is another CHS event almost ruined by some power crazed lunatic.” Her brain seemed to catch up a moment later, and she winced, turning to Sunset. “Er…No offense.”

The punches just kept on coming today, and Sunset scowled briefly, a heavy and frustrated sigh escaping her. “None taken,” she said with more than a hint of bitterness. She hoped that they would get the hint, but she also knew she probably wouldn’t be that lucky.

She just hoped that they’d have better luck explaining this to the Principals…

“Dark magic?” Celestia said skeptically, and Sunset’s heart sank. That was the tone of a Celestia who was waiting for someone to hang themselves. “I find that very hard to believe…” It was what came next that sent it and her stomach to be roommates in the bottom of her boots. “Those girls came into my office earlier and were absolutely delightful.”

Horseapples. Of course they came here first.

Luna smirked, and while the expression was one that had sometimes found its way onto the school disciplinarian’s face, there was something…nasty about it this time. “Perhaps Sunset Shimmer is just eager to make someone else out to be a bad element, so that her actions at the Fall Formal will become old news.” Her statement may have been directed at her elder sister, but her eyes flicked to Sunset as she twisted the knife.

It hurt more than she thought it would, and she shifted her weight to her other foot, leaning further away from the educators, trying to grapple with her emotions. Luna had proven to be a stern woman with an unyielding air of professionalism to most but in those moments where Sunset had opened up to her, she had seen empathy and compassion. To have that cast aside in favor of getting her digs in…

The former unicorn looked again, meeting Luna’s eyes for the barest of seconds. Something pained lurked there, almost apologetic, and her lips twitched before settling back into that nasty smirk, her gaze pulling away to rake over the rest of the girls.

“I could see why you might think that—” Sunset stammered, not quite certain of what she had seen, her voice breaking.

Rainbow interrupted, and under other circumstances Sunset would have been annoyed. Here, though, it was welcome, since it gave her the chance to study the administrators more thoroughly. “That’s not what’s happening! We all saw this go down in the cafeteria too!” She slapped her palms on the desk for emphasis.

Celestia leaned back in her chair, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, but isn't your band supposed to be part of the musical showcase?” she asked pointedly.

Sunset could feel the trap swinging shut with those words, and so could Dash, her own conviction wavering as she answered, “Yes…”

“Perhaps you are all just worried that the Dazzlings will steal your spotlight,” Luna commented dismissively.

“The Dazzlings?” Applejack made a face that showed just what she thought of the name.

Sunset was frowning now, and she started focusing on her magical senses, searching the office. It was faint, but it was there, the lingering sense of the same dark magic touching the corners of the room, and the stomach still chilling in her boot started tying itself up in knots.

“It's the name of their musical group. That's why they came by my office earlier – to sign up for the Showcase. Even sang a little song to Vice Principal Luna and I.” Horror turned her blood to ice, and her eyes raised to stare at the two women, forgoing caution to throw her magical senses wide open once more. When she did, she could see it, the vein-like network of dark power pulsing under their skin and in their eyes, a dark sickness with a nasty green tint, like the humans imagined something radioactive to look.

“They did?” she heard Applejack ask with concern.

“Yes,” Celestia said, and Sunset felt the needles dragging against her eardrums again. She found her eyes locked on the principal. Just like with Luna, she saw some other emotion flit across the woman’s expression, before it was masked by an almost robotic apathy and callousness. “And we think having a ‘Battle of the Bands’ is a marvelous idea.”

Not a lot to comment on with this chapter.

Pony Scootaloo is implied to have something wrong with her wings enough that they cannot be used for full flight. Humans dont fly, and as far as we see, the human version isnt overtly handicapped in any way, so I tried to come up with some form of problem that would be a somewhat permanent situation for an otherwise active kid. In this case, I went with a very severe asthma problem, mostly because my middle brother (who was the super active, always wanted to run around and play sports and stuff as a kid) had a horrible asthma problem for a long time, and i can remember him coming into the house on an almost daily basis red faced and wheezing after running home from the bus stop, and in the spring, it would get so bad that he practically lived off an inhaler and this “nebulizer” machine. He hated his asthma, would get very frustrated and angry because it hindered what he would rather be doing.

Other than that, took some liberties with the Sirens, and expanding on the implications from canon that Sunset can sense magic in a way the other girls dont.

Again, please bear with me on this part of the story, as its actually fairly important in the long run.